Red
by Keeper of Tomes
Summary: 11 of the 100 Challenge. Murder and its side effects. "We bled the same." Inspired by Xekstrin's story, "The Law of Identity."


**Red**

**Author: **Keeper of Tomes  
**Song: **2 + 2 = 5, by Radiohead  
**Summary: **11 of the 100 Challenge. Murder and its side effects. "We bled the same."  
**Words: **892  
**Pairing(s): **A/MC  
**Rating: **T

Egad, it's a short one! Playing with a new style here. Have fun. Oh, and uh... yeah, not as cracktastic as Lightning was, but... I'm swamped with other stuff. So... I'm quite proud I could even churn this out.

--  
**-now**

_Porous and viscous and a million other things and—_

All there is, is rain, rain and her mouth is dry, the inside of her body caked with sand that absorbs the water and makes her feel heavy but lightheaded all at once.

_--and I am bleeding._

The ground has suddenly become much closer to her cheek, pressing against it in a sloppy, muddy kiss. The air hovers.

Waits.

Her eyes will not open, but she knows that if she could see, she would be able to pick out Death, standing quietly behind the raindrops and the veil.

_Bleeding._

The blood is coming faster and her fingertips are drenched in it. She can feel the yawning wound in her side, stretching in and of itself, and she is dying. She can feel her body opening up and her soul fading into the rainclouds.

_Did I ever have a soul?_

_ Did I ever have a soul?_

_ Did I—_

--  
**- then**

He has to be honest:

He has always thought of her as beautiful.

The precipice shifts beneath her feet, her skinny body hovering like the feather from some bird of prey, and he realizes she is a predator, because her eyes are large and set in the front of her head.

But then, so are his. So who is hunting who, here?

_She must die._

So she must.

--  
**- now**

Her mouth is open and he closes it with the flick of one gloved finger. Then does the same to both her eyes, feeling the lids slide across glazed pupils.

The rain stops, and he realizes that on the Far Side, there is no such thing as a rainbow.

--  
**- then**

"I never asked to hate you. I just do."

--  
**- now**

The others will be coming soon, and they will find him bent over her body, sweating profusely, one hand wound tightly around the blade and the other set softly upon her abdomen, waiting for the rise and watching for the fall.

His knees will be red with her blood and they will both be warm.

But now he is just watching, breaths rising in steam.

_Winter._

Winter.

_So why won't it—_

But there is no—

_--snow?_

--  
**- then**

"Can you not smell the powder of war, floating through the air? I carry it on me, around me… I reek of it, and so do you."

"I am not like you."

_Eyes in front._

She does not laugh. She stands even straighter and tosses her cloak to one side, before raising her staff and letting the claws fling out into radial position, steel beams around a crystal.

He can see his reflection times one hundred.

"No," she decides. "No, you're not."

And she fires.

--  
**- now**

"A-Aerrow?"

Breath. Punctuating his words.

"Let's take her back."

--  
- **then**

Streams of red come sliding down his neck and cheek, from the thin wound her crystal inflicted.

"Too slow." She smiles.

"I don't want to kill you."

"Sure you do. You followed me here with just that intention. Because you know I won't go quietly with you, I won't just let you handcuff me and drag me back. So kill me, Sky Knight, or is your ass too cowardly to do even that?"

_Boy. You are a boy._

He raises his blades.

"Good."

And he charges.

_Better._

And she closes her eyes and waits for impact.

--  
**- now**

_She wanted to die. _

"I killed her."

"We know." She gives him a patient look. "How?"

"I just… did."

"Okay."

_She wanted—_

"Piper, what would it be like…"

--_to die._

--  
**- then**

And she's bleeding, she's bleeding…

God, she's bleeding…

_Porous and viscous—_

He can hear the gurgling of blood in her throat. He can hear her death rattle and hear her heart stop beating.

He stands next to her and sees they bleed the same.

_Red._

Either way.

--  
**- then & now**

A million ways to die, so is it murder, or was it suicide?

Just before they leave that dreaded cliff, he throws the bloody knife over the edge and into the deep blue sky. He hates this place.

Tenses, past and present, and he doesn't know which one he should be thinking in.

_Maybe I should be—_

"Let's—"

_--gone._

--  
**-tomorrow**

Unmarked.

He's the only one here.

The ground is wet. They say he is a hero, but he doesn't feel like anything other than a glorified killer.

--  
**-a long time ago…**

She waits for their arrival.

It's gone.

Her kingdom is gone and the shell of her existence has crumbled at her feet, is resting patiently and waiting to be shattered one last time.

_I must die._

She mustn't live.

_He must kill me._

Not Piper—

_--for she would be dirtied._

Only he deserves to carry the guilt.

**…far, far away.**

--  
**- evermore**

He puts marigolds on her grave and stabs the earth with his remaining blade.

It quivers there and he turns around and can feel the world spin beneath his feet.

_We bled the same._

_ Red,_

either way.


End file.
